Gaming News Archive
January 2004

31/1/04

No Outrun 2 on console?
Sega has denied that Outrun 2 is being converted to any home console, despite www.Amazon.co.uk stating otherwise and even giving a release date!
Malice to be released!
Malice, by Argonaut, is finally getting released in March, thanks to Evolved Games who have decided to publish it.
Mods on PS2 legal in Italy?!
A recent court ruling in Italy has decided that having "mod" chips in Playstation 2's isn't illegal.
Put yourself in games
Sony has signed a deal with Digimask to develop a system that will allow PS2 EyeToy owners to take front and side photo's of their head and map the textures on to peoples faces in games, such as football or rally games.
XBox in 2nd?!
Microsoft is disputing Nintendo's claim that the GameCube holds 2nd place, by saying that the XBox holds 2nd place after a strong Christmas period. Microsoft also claim to have sold over 1 million XBox's in the UK.
Halo 2 delayed
Hal 2 on the XBox has had its release put back from April to June, where it will be released in the US at the beginning of the month and hopefully arrive in Europe by the end of June.
Nokia promotes new N-Gage games
Nokia is trying to revive interest in their ill-fated mobile phone/handheld games device by promoting 3 new games. Ashen, is a first-person shooter, while Requiem Of Hell is an role-playing game (with bluetooth support) and Operation Shadow is a war game.
SNK develop for XBox
SNK has joined Microsoft's XBox developer programme and is in the process of converting Metal Slug 3 and SNK Vs. Capcom Chaos.
PSX features returned
Sony's promise to release the PSX in Japan before Christmas saw them leave out several vital features from the machine. Now they have released a CD which will give PSX owners some of those functions back, with further discs (and extra features) possibly in the pipeline.

24/1/04

More XBox Live downloads
Secret Weapons Over Normandy has new downloadable content via XBox Live which includes a new aircraft, the Italian Macchi 202.
Nintendo of Europe has great Xmas
Nintendo of Europe has celebrated its best christmas for the Gamecube yet. According to Nintendo GameCube sales were up 88% compared with Christmas 2002, Game Boy Advane / Game Boy Advance SP sales were up 33%, GameCube game sales were up 45% and Game Boy Advance game sales were up 10%.
Outrun 2 on a console?
Amazon.co.uk has invited gamers to pre-order Outrun 2 despite Sega, the games creator, having not confirmed any console conversions.
Apparently the console version is due out on the Playstation 2 and XBox on Aug. 13th 2004.
Nintendo's new machine
Nintendo is to fully announce and show off its new handheld at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May, but has revealed some information about it recently. Currently known as the Nintendo DS (Double Screen), its a handheld with 2 screens - one will be used for the main camera view while the other is used to display maps, close ups and various different camera angles. The idea being you can quickly glance to the 2nd screen if you wish to, or you can concentrate on playing the game without in-game displays covering up areas that you need to see.

20/1/04

New company, Circle Studios
Jeremy and Adrian Smith, who founded Core Design - creators of Tomb Raider and Thunderhawk,have created a new games developer, Circle Studios, with 35 key ex-Core Design staff and are hoping to produce their first game soon.
Marvel into gaming?
Marvel is following Warner Bros lead and has created a special division to create videogames which , they hope, will promote not only their well-known characters, but also their lesser-known ones too.

19/1/04

Limited Edition XBox's
Microsoft has released 2 new limited edition XBox's in Japan - XBox Pure White and XBox Kasumi-chan Blue. The formeris to mark the XBox's 2nd birthday in Japan whilst the latter is to be launched the same time as Dead Or Alive: Online.
New PS2 controller - a kitana!
Onimusha 3 is to get a unique Playstation 2 controller - a kitana sword! The 3 foot long sword, created by Hori, is dubbed the Soul Controller and uses motion detectors to put your moves in to the game.
Nintendo claim 2nd place for 2003
Nintendo has claimed 2nd place for 2003, with GameCube sales up 35%, Playstation 2 sales down 25% and "no relevant market growth" for the XBox. The upturn in GameCube sales is partly down to a drop in the machines retail price and the releas of key GameCube games, such as Mario Kart: Double Dash.

18/1/04

Warner Bros. get serious about games
Warner Bros have created Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment to help increase its activity in the games industry.
Halo costumes for sale!
Full scale Halo costumes have been produced by Nightmare Armor for fans of the game. However, at Ł1,920 ($3,500) each you'd need to be a really big fan of the game to want one. For more info visit www.nightmarearmor.com.
Satoru Iwata makes a strane statement
Nintendo Of Japan President, Satoru Iwata, has said "we want to offer to customers a play experience that they've never had before. We're not expecting everyone to cheer following the announcment. Its okay if 10% of people say its interesting".

17/1/04

PS2 sales starting to drop
Sony has recently revealed that Playstation 2 sales were down 8% over November and December 2003. Despite this, games sales soared up by 27% to a whopping 66 million games sold.
Ed Fries resigns from Microsoft!
Ed Fries, head of Microsofts games division, has resigned after 18 years with the company so he can "pursue other goals".
NES classics for the GBA
Nintendo Of Japan are going to release 10 NES classic games on to the Game Boy Advance, including Pac Man, The Legend Of Zelda, Bomberman, Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong.

14/1/04

PSP for Ł200?
Chris Deering, President of Sony Europe, has stated that he wants to sell the Playstation Portable (PSP) for around Ł200 (instead of the forecast Ł300) when it gets launched in the UK in late 2004.
E3 coming soon
Yes, folks, it'll soon be that time again where all the big companies show off their games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and where Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony will possibly show off their follow-ups to the GameCube, XBox and Playstation 2 respectively.

12/1/04

GC PSO down in Europe
Phantasy Star Online: Episode 1 & 2 servers werer down on Saturday and myself (and others) were unable to get on. I also discovered that my password and username weren't recognised by the official PSO site... so someone has either unplugged or messed up the server where are that vital info is stored or (much more likely) Sega/Sonic Team are trying to fix the lag that has bugged the servers since the "essential maintenance" that was done in December 2003.

9/1/04

Sony telling us lies?
A new report from Japan suggests that the Playstation Portable (PSP) won't be released until December 2004 in Japan and won't reach the western world until 2005.
Meanwhile, Sony claim that they managed to sell 100,000 PSX's in it's first week of launch, in Japan, but how many of those were pre-ordered and how many of those new that the vast majority of its features have been removed, for now?

7/1/04

Alternative way to get Zelda Collectors disc
Nintendo has set up an alternative method to get the Zelda Collectors disc ,for the GameCube. Instead of collecting stars simply buy an one of F-Zero GX, Mario Party 5, Zelda: The Wind Waker, 1080 Avalanche, Mario Kart: Double Dash and Eternal Darkness or buy any 2 of Mario Party 4, Mario Sunshine, Star Fox Adventures, Super Mario Bros Melee, Luigi's Mansion and Metroid Prime, then send your receipt to Nintendo for the disc.
Chart-Track official Xmas console sales
Uk videogames monitor Chart-Track has revealed the official Christmas console sales figures, ending 20th December:
Playstation 2: 100,000 sold
Xbox: 40,000 sold
Game Boy Advance: 40,000 sold
GameCube: 21,000 sold
N-Gage: 180 sold (doesn't include sales from mobile phone retailers)

6/1/04

PSP UK launch date!
Sony has announced that the Playstation Portable (PSP) will be launched in the UK in November 2004.
GC PSO salutes Space Odyssey
When you are in the visual lobbies on GameCube Phantasy Star Online (online) you can currently hear the well known tune from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Why? Noone arelly knows... the same thing happened when you were on Pioneer 2 when playing the Dreamcast version online at the beginning of each year... along with a mysterious giant '21'. So I guess its to celebrate the new year then.....

5/1/04

Killer 7 (Japanese) website launched
Capcom have launched the website for their upcoming game Killer 7, in Japan. To find out more about the game, including a movie ofthe game in action, visit www.capcom.co.jp/killer7.
UK retailers get Rockstar in trouble
Some retailers in the UK have effectively broken Sony's exclusivity contract with Rockstar by selling the XBox Grand Theft Auto Double Pack in December.
The contract stated that no Grand Theft Auto game was to be released on any non-Sony console in Europe during 2003, hence the official release date of January 2nd 2004.
Amiga One update
For those of you that don't recall, the Amiga is gonna make a comeback in the form of the Amiga One. For the latest info visit www.amiga.com.

3/1/04

Ubi Soft give away game for free!
Gamers in the US can get Splinter Cell for free, courtesey of Ubi Soft if you buy Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time.
Bandai pull out of hardware
Bandai are pulling out of the videogame hardware business after their Wonderswan and Wonderswan Colour handhelds have done well in Japan. The company intends to concentrate on the various franchises they own, including Gundam of course.
Naomi arcade game confirmed for Dreamcast!
Psyvarier 2, a side scrolling shoot'em up which runs on Sega's NAOMI arcade board, is heading for the Dreamcast in February 2004, in Japan.
Galleon gets a publisher!
Galleon, Toby Gards long overdue game, has finally found a publisher. SCi have snapped it up and it is to be an XBox exclusive game due out before summer 2004, in the UK.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 is in development for Nintendo's GameCube. Due out in Japan around summer 2004, in the US around Sept. '04 and hopefully here in Europe before next Christmas, it follows Leon Kennedy after the events of Resident Evil 2. He ends up at the mansion where it all started and will be facing some new monsters aswell as the usual zombies.
Classic Dizzy series to return?!
A new Dizzy game might get made for the current consoles (GameCube, Playstation 2 and XBox) if enough interest is shown. Visit www.fantasticdizzy.co.uk to sign a petition and find out more info.

1/1/04

Game Central Awards 2003
Here are the results for the Game Central 2003 Awards (Channel 4, UK Teletext page 175):
Playstation 2 Game Of The Year: Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time
XBox Game Of The Year: Project Gotham Racing 2
GameCube Game Of The Year: Metroid Prime
PC Game Of The Year: Battlefield 1942
Surprise Of The Year: Manhunt
Worst Game Of The Year: Backyard Wrestling
Publisher Of The Year: Ubi Soft
Hardware Innovation Of The Year: EyeToy

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Gaming News ArchiveJanuary 2004

31/1/04

24/1/04

20/1/04

19/1/04

18/1/04

17/1/04

14/1/04

12/1/04

9/1/04

7/1/04

6/1/04

5/1/04

3/1/04

1/1/04

Gaming News Archive
January 2004